Freedom
by Sari1
Summary: *Revised and New Chapter* Pilots after the end of Gundam Wing. Non-Yaoi couples... *NOTE* for the purposes of this story the professors are alive. Rating is for later chapters.
1. Prologue

Author's Notes:  
  
This story is non-yaoi and has what I feel to be traditional pairings… with a few twists. Note for the purposes of this story the professors are still very much alive, that's why it's fanfiction!  
  
Freedom:  
  
Book One: And there were five…  
  
Prologue  
  
  
  
The year is A.C. 200 and with the end of the war between the earth sphere and the colonies as well as the elimination of OZ a delicate peace has settled over the United Earth Sphere. The five Gundam pilots were regaled as heroes and took up residence either in the colonies of their origin or on the earth sphere itself. Communications between the pilots and Relena Peacecraft continued on a regular basis, save one, but in this world were ideals were becoming reality the hearts of a few were forgotten for the happiness of the masses.  
  
The room was metallic and dark, and the only light came from the five monitors in the center of the room. The door on the left side wall hissed open. A young woman entered the bleak space and bowed in traditional fashion to the five men seated around the monitors. "Professors, I beg your indulgence," Her voice was soft yet commanding.  
  
"We do not hold to such formalities here," Professor O. commented, "And you have been told on numerous occasions to relinquish those ancient and insipid customs."  
  
"I see you have not given up your monitoring of the former Gundam pilots, nor your distribution of missions to them no matter how veiled your orders are, therefore I shall cease when you do," the mutinous statement was followed by a slight smile as the girl moved and knelt amongst the professors. "I believe you know the reason I have beseeched an audience with you… I ask that you give the pilots back their lives, relinquish your hold on them."  
  
"We have," Professor J. stated. This comment received an accusatory look from the girl. The conversation carried on for a number of tense moments until the professors agreed to remove themselves completely from the destinies of the pilots.  
  
"Then I shall go and prepare my things," the girl began.  
  
"Why, where are you going?" Professor O. questioned.  
  
"To find them and set them free." The girl finished.  
  
"But what of yourself?" professor J. questioned, "you too are now free child. Go and seek your own happiness."  
  
The young woman lowered her head and smiled. The smile itself was tempered equally with bitterness, regret, and pain. "I lost my freedom many years ago, I seek not now what is no longer mine," with this she looked up revealing silent tears running down her cheeks, "I shall return to you when I have completed my mission."  
  
Professor J. walked forward, "We can not let you return…"  
  
She looked at her hands, eyes half closed, "I know…" she replied, voice tear stricken, gently squeezing the gun she held within her palm. 


	2. Chapter 1: And there were Five

Author's Notes:  
  
This is a completely non-yaoi story, and does contain what I feel to be traditional pairings… with a few twists. I hope you enjoy this, and please review!  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: And there were Five  
  
May 15 A.C. 200 2:45 PM  
  
Peacecraft Residence  
  
Relena sat waiting the arrival of her guest. She smiled comfortingly to the girl next to her. "I'm sure everything will be fine, Dorothy."  
  
"I don't see how it could be, Miss Relena, I'm telling you, he is gay."  
  
"How can you say that when you claim to be in love with him?" Relena said in a very unconvincing manner.  
  
"Because, I am a realist, Miss Relena. I may have found the truth and beauty in your ideals, but I am still a realist."  
  
"Then why are you here?"  
  
"Because, I have a tendency to be hopeful," after this statement the two young ladies broke into laughter, which continued until Pagan announced the arrival of their guest.  
  
Quatre Raberba Winner entered the room eager to see Relena. He worried about the leader and current President of the United Earth Sphere Coalition, over time the two had become very close, finding themselves forced into various social and political situations together, and enjoyed the solace of the other's company. However, Relena had been placed under much strain at a very early age and though it was not apparent on the surface, nor to any of her closest companions, Relena Peacecraft had become severely depressed.  
  
Once inside the room Quatre stumbled backward. The emotions that raged inside his mind left him distraught, "This isn't Relena," he thought to himself. The truth being these emotions had nothing to do with Relena at all, being in her presence often for extended periods of time allowed Quatre to analyze her innermost thoughts and feelings. He determined that her depression was caused by Heero's rejection. What Quatre was experiencing now was vastly different. It vibrated within his mind dark, awake, like a living entity, growing. Pain. Blinding and irrational, Pain. He opened his eyes searching out the body for the tortured soul, "Dorothy?" he whispered before falling unconscious.  
  
***  
  
The girl walked towards the rather impressive mansion. Looking downward towards a small slip of paper held in her left hand, she nodded to herself, "Quatre Raberba Winner, the empath…" she looked back up towards the house. "And there were five…" she whispered to the sullen wind. It echoed back her pain.  
  
***  
  
May 15 A.C. 200 8:56 PM  
  
Peacecraft Residence East Wing  
  
Quatre awoke with an uneasy feeling; the presence was still inside him. He couldn't believe that such a deep and consuming pain existed in any living creature, but it was inside Dorothy. He attempted to puzzle through the labyrinth presented to him, searching out the meanings behind the horror inside her. Each attempt left him baffled. Finally, reaching out to her with his mind he found a very well made and secure barrier between them. Frustrated, he sighed, "So, you have managed to hide this from the world? You even built those walls around yourself to hide the cause… but you couldn't hide the product." His head snapped upward as the very origin of his musings entered the room.  
  
This time he gently prevented the onslaught of emotions, it was rather like placing earphones inside his brain, the emotions were still present and registered but the intensity was prevented. She smiled at him gently, "You had us worried Mr. Winner."  
  
"Quatre," he stated.  
  
"What?" she asked with a confused expression.  
  
"My name," he smiled, "Please call me Quatre. We are friends, Dorothy."  
  
She blushed and nodded, "I'll try." Quatre found himself noting that she was quite pretty when she blushed. He also noticed something else.  
  
"Dorothy!" she looked at him puzzled, "Your… your eyebrows, they are… different…"  
  
The blush returned with greater intensity, "I well, the way they were before… I had to gel them that way… made me more memorable." She laughed shallowly as she moved over to the bed, and only at that moment did Quatre realize that he was not in the mansion's reception room, but in a guestroom he was rather familiar with having spent many nights in the mansion during balls and the like. Quatre found himself wishing to heal the pain inside the girl -no woman- he thought. He was caught by the oddity of such a reaction, normally he preferred to observe and not interfere. However, what he felt now was intense, it was a burning need to free her. To make her see there was beauty in the world, that there was love…  
  
"Dorothy," he began, and her head snapped up. She had been busying herself with the blankets on the bed, straightening them and arranging them around his body. She looked at him inquisitively and he continued.  
  
"Dorothy, there is something inside you…" he began, her eyes grew wide, "It is unlike anything I've ever felt…" she began to back away from the bed shaking her head.  
  
"Dorothy whatever you are afraid of is hurting you…" she was backing towards the door, "Dorothy I can help… let me help," he was pleading with her.  
  
"Stop," she said her voice venomous, "don't pretend to care about things that have nothing to do with you. Only a weak man would prey on a woman's insecurities."  
  
"Dorothy…" but she was gone, having left the room, "So that is your barrier, your cold exterior. That sarcasm, I thought you'd lost it after the war… but one never loses their defenses I suppose, but I will save you Dorothy… whether you want me to or no." With that he got out of the bed and, after straightening his appearance, left the room to find Relena.  
  
***  
  
The girl sat on the balcony edge musing over the scene that had just passed before her. She sighed, "Both of you so silly. But you do not realize the consequences of hiding your love… and I am here to assure that you are never forced to acknowledge those horrors, before it is too late, before you become… like me," before her eyes could succumb to the tears pent up within them she jumped down, and headed in the direction of the Winner estate. 


	3. Chapter 2: Enter the Raven

1 Chapter 2: Enter the Raven  
  
May 15 A.C. 200 11:05 PM  
  
Winner Residence  
  
Quatre had spoken briefly with Relena in an attempt to find Dorothy's whereabouts. Relena to say the least was adamantly uncooperative. He was not put off by her behavior, quite to the contrary. Upon, entering his car he promptly phoned his office and gave his secretary the occupation of locating the Miss Catalonia's residence. His own behavior baffled him. Very rarely in his life had he been annoyed with anyone, let alone Relena, his nature itself rebelled against such emotions, yet that very night he had felt the urge to yell at her for refusing him the knowledge he wished to gain.  
  
Shaking his head, Quatre Raberba Winner entered his room, smiling at the relaxed feeling that entered his soul by entering his private sanctum. The smile faded, however, when he noticed a woman sitting on the edge of his bed. "Who are you?" he asked quietly, as he mentally calculated whether or not the intruder was hostile, and if so posed any threat.  
  
The woman, young and rather small, smiled. Her smile did not reach her eyes, which seemed merely to be two very dark pools of ebony. This observation awakened Quatre's other sense and he found himself reaching out to her mentally.  
  
The girl's smile faded, "I know what you're doing Winner, poking around in my head?" her voice was melodious, and in another place and time Quatre believed he would have enjoyed merely listening to her speak. She reached a delicate hand up to her temple, "Believe me when I say you don't want to see what I hide."  
  
"And why is that?" he questioned, intrigued.  
  
She raised a hand to stop his questions, "I have not come to speak of matters that hold no importance."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Again you stray from the point!" she stood from her position on the bed and moved closer to him. Peering into his face with a knowing air she spoke, "You are searching for something, yes?" Surprised Quatre moved forward, but the woman backed away to avoid the closeness, "I know what you seek… and I have the key…"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Quatre found he was becoming frustrated, "Do you mean Dorothy? Do you know how I can help her?"  
  
"I hold your key… here in the palm of my hand," to seemingly expound on the point the woman extended an upturned palm to Quatre and then quickly retracted it, "Oops too slow, but perhaps I should tell you, yes? The knowledge is inside me… I hold the key, Winner, but so do you."  
  
"How do I help her?" Quatre barely concealed his mounting excitement, if this woman could help him…  
  
"Why save her Winner, what does she have that you want?"  
  
"Nothing, I don't want anything from her…"  
  
She laughed, "That is true of no one Winner least of all yourself."  
  
"It is true I don't want anything from Dorothy."  
  
"There is where your lie is Winner, there is how you hide the answer from yourself…" Quatre gave her a puzzled look. "You must know what drives your mind before you can heal her…"  
  
"The need to heal another's pain is what drives me…" Quatre answered.  
  
"You would like to think so Winner… but the world is not so easy. Such a noble soldier working for what he would deem an unworthy cause, therefore he prevents himself from seeing the truth. Or perhaps it is not such an unworthy cause," up to this point she had been skipping about the apartment, now she stood still before him. "What pains you Winner? What pains you so that cannot speak of it? That is made tangible by the look in her eyes?"  
  
"You mean my father's death?"  
  
"No, no, no Winner, you skirt the truth! You hold all the grains of sand, all the answers, yet you let them run through your fingers!" she cupped her palms and showed him the lack of contents therein. "Seek out the future and you will find the past. There is no present for one locked within the mind," she whispered softly into his ear, somehow she had managed to move behind him before he could perceive her actions.  
  
"I don't understand!" he exclaimed frustrated both at his inability to comprehend her words and at his loss of perception.  
  
"You are the key Winner, her key, but you cannot set her free."  
  
"Why? I don't understand."  
  
"She begs from you something, does she not? It pleads to you from her eyes, those big blue eyes that you find yourself lost in? From her tortured mind to yours and you can answer her prayer, Winner. When you look at her what pains your heart so?"  
  
Quatre gave out a small sigh, "I feel that, that calling… and I know now what you are saying."  
  
The woman smiled, "And what shall you do Winner?"  
  
"I will console her by sharing with her the details of the death of my own father, and in that way heal the pain left by the death of her own."  
  
The woman looked very much in the way to whap him upside the head, "You irk me winner… I will come again, with you my patience has run thin."  
  
"What? Was I wrong?"  
  
She let out an exasperated sigh, "Yes very, for one who prides himself on his ability to discern the emotions of others, oh and you do pride yourself on it," she stated when he began to protest, "You have somehow managed to completely misinterpret the situation."  
  
He looked confused and disappointed, "So tell me what I did wrong and what I can do. Tell me the answer!"  
  
"I already have."  
  
"NO! By Allah you have not!" he cried out in his frustration.  
  
She smiled at him softly, placatingly, "I have Winner, I have…" she sat him on the side of his bed, "It will come to you, and I will be here tomorrow to make sure of it, just close your eyes…" she stepped away from him as he obeyed her command, "Take your time... and…" When Quatre opened his eyes a second later she was gone.  
  
***  
  
May 15 A.C. 200 10:30 PM  
  
Catalonia Residence  
  
Dorothy awoke from another nightmare, images plaguing her mind even in the supposed sanctuary of the night. Images of her father, the man Quatre so resembled flooded her mind. "No," she whispered, "no." Covering her face with her hands she allowed the memories of her childhood to tumble forth and consume her.  
  
"Dorothy? Dorothy sweetheart you have to understand. I'm doing this for your happiness, so you can live in peace."  
  
"But…"the small girl's lip quivered, "Why do you have to leave Daddy? Why?"  
  
"Don't worry sweetheart, I'll be back safe and sound before you know it. Grandfather, Trieze, and Zechs will come and visit you. Don't worry."  
  
He never returned. The mobile suit he was piloting was destroyed in battle. Dorothy watched it on the telescreen, knocking the machine over when she realized her father's end. No one had been able to console her.  
  
2 "Dorothy, you must understand. Your father died gloriously in the beauty of battle," a young Col. Trieze explained to the impressionable youth.  
  
"I hate war! I hate it! I hate it!" the child sobbed into the man's shoulder.  
  
"Shh, no you don't hate war. A war is a beautiful thing, the death that occurs is equally beautiful," the man detached the youth from the lapels of his coatf and looked into her eyes, "You are a lucky girl Dorothy to grow up in a time of such beauty."  
  
As the years progressed Col. Trieze treated the orphan as his own child, teaching her his view of life. Wishing to please the man she admired, the girl became extreme in her own thinking clinging to dangerous ideals that threatened to consume her soul. In the end she lost the battle for her own beliefs, and searched for rationality in her own insane world. Only to find more confusion, she allowed the chaos to consume her mind and heart, leaving an empty shell of pain, until a person possessing the same simple gentleness of her father appeared before her.  
  
"You can't or won't? But I won't hold back! That compassion! That sweetness! That consideration! They're the cause of your ruination!" an irate Dorothy screamed at her opponent.  
  
Flicking her foil upward, she managed to disarm the young man before her.  
  
"That may be true but this is the only way I can fight. Even in losing the battle, I'm satisfied that the colonies weren't drawn into it!" Quatre shouted back.  
  
"Nothing will change!" the girl rebuked.  
  
"What else should I have done then?" the young man questioned.  
  
Dorothy raised her foil in response, "You should have become the leader of the colonies and fought on equal terms, like Mr. Milliardo!"  
  
"Dorothy! That's not-" the young man began.  
  
Dorothy ran him through with her foil, "Show humanity a war so lamentable that they would have no wish to see its like ever again!"  
  
"Is that... what this battle is about?" questioned Quatre.  
  
"That's right! Taking away all the weapons won't stop wars. You have to change the hearts of the people, otherwise they'll be destroyed like my father."  
  
"You're... more kind... than me...." the young man continued, "Dorothy.... You're like me.... hating fighting... but never able to exonerate yourself for your gentleness.... but... you can't deny your gentle nature.... Trowa has taught me that.... you have to accept everything.... humanity needs that quality... or else... there is no reason to exist.... isn't that so? The remaining humans... would be no better than animals..."  
  
The woman lying in the bed shivered and continued to sob, "I'm not kinder than you Quatre!" She turned and buried her face in her pillow, "I… I am… I am nothing." Once again she succumbed to the terror that dwelled within her mind and soul, the simple torture and guilt of an unrequited love.  
  
***  
  
May 16 A.C. 200 3:52 AM  
  
Circus Grounds  
  
Inside a rather small silver trailer a warrior slept, yet, he was not alone. On silent feet the intruder approached being cautious as to not disturb a single item within the trailer's confines. Upon reaching the bed the figure stopped and dropped to her knees. Gently, coaxingly, she spoke, "I'm here Nanashi…" The figure stirred, but did not wake. "I came back… because I… I need you." The intruder watched in satisfaction as the warrior's sleep patterns altered becoming erratic, distressed. "Don't you want me? Don't you need me? I need you Nanashi…" Whatever dream the warrior was experiencing caused his face to contort into various patterns of distress, loneliness, and pain. He started awake a single word passing over his lips as he sat forward…  
  
"Midii…"  
  
Listening through the now open window the intruder smiled smugly then fled from the circus grounds. Within her mind she calculated how much time would be needed to travel to the Luxembourg base to retrieve the woman named Midii Une. "There are no known connections, my ass," she mumbled as she headed back to her hotel to find a few hours rest. 


	4. Chapter 3: Confessions of the Guilty

Chapter 3: Confessions of the Guilty  
  
May 16 A.C. 200 6:27 A.M.  
  
Room 235 United Sphere Hotel  
  
The Raven sat at her vanity in the well-furnished and comfortable room. Looking at the reflection presented her she practiced various facial exercises designed to refine her ability to hide all emotion behind the stoic mask that was her face. Throughout the exercise she recalled memories from her past, examining the effects the memories had on her expression, searching for the most minute change that could possibly provide a clue as to the emotional state she was in. "You must be careful today," she reminded herself, "You are confronting the perfect soldier." The exercise continued flawlessly until the face of a man presented itself to her mind's eye, a man holding a woman close to him, a man with coal black hair and darker eyes… the Raven watched in the mirror as a solitary tear forged its path down her barren cheek.  
  
May 16 A.C. 200 9:04 A.M.  
  
United Earth Sphere Nation, Municipal Building: Office of the President  
  
A rather irate and discombobulated Relena Peacecraft entered her office, followed by an equally enraged Dorothy Catalonia. "They can not do this to me," Relena shouted, "I am their President for God's sake." Dorothy seated herself in a leather wing backed chair in front of Relena's desk.  
  
"Sit down," she said in a calm voice that proved dissonant to her facial expression, "Before you give yourself an aneurysm." Relena looked at her friend and sat.  
  
She laughed bitterly, "It is just such a slap in the face, Dorothy. I have given up my life for this institution and they look at me as an expendable child. A symbol that is equally valuable dead as it is alive." Noting Dorothy's attempt to interrupt she continued hurriedly, "Don't even begin to say that they appointed me to the office of President because of my qualifications. You and I both know the truth. After the former Head of Office was assassinated they needed something expendable, I was the obvious choice. I am a beacon to the people. Worshipped while alive, and if I happen to meet the same end as my predecessor, well, I would make a lovely martyr. Half of them wanted to get rid of me anyway, they just didn't realize that Heero Yuy would be a part of the deal."  
  
"Speaking of Heero Yuy, have you seen him recently?"  
  
"What do you think?" Relena rested her chin in the open palm of one hand, "I see him at all proper functions where it would be appropriate for us to meet and he speaks in that same annoying voice that would indicate that I am absolutely nothing to him. However," her voice audibly softened, "I feel him around me all the time, and I know he is there, he sits outside my window at night and watches me until I fall asleep… at least I believe he leaves after I am asleep, he isn't there when I wake up…"  
  
"You still love him," Dorothy said quietly. She watched as her friend's eyes drooped low and felt the completeness of her defeat. "You must tell him Miss Relena."  
  
"Why? He won't care, he merely protects me Dorothy, I don't think even he knows why."  
  
"You must tell him, Miss Relena," Dorothy reiterated the point for emphasis before proceeding, "And consider yourself lucky, certainly these politicians have forced you into matrimony but you can hardly consider yourself in my position."  
  
"Dorothy," Relena breathed, "I'm sorry, I am selfish…"  
  
"No, you are blinded by love, Miss Relena. You do realize you shall be married to Mr. Winner?" Relena nodded dumbly. "You see, you may change your choice of husband, they just stated that it is improper for you to still be single and in such a precarious social spotlight."  
  
Relena laughed again, "They threatened to destroy my career, Dorothy, unless I marry. Oh, of course they had already picked a suitable match in their ever awe-inspiring kindness."  
  
Dorothy rose suddenly, her voice harsh, "Stop playing the role of the mistreated school girl Relena! Do you know what I have in store for me? In three months time I will finally be allowed to utilize the power of my heritage! According to my grandfather's will at that time all the holdings he possessed will become mine! And now as I am believing in peace, the Romifellar Foundation can not allow such a thing to happen. They have full legal power over me. They will marry me off. I have no other choice, no one will have me. So they will choose a man who will be strong enough to overpower me physically, a man who will rape me enough to give him an heir, a man who will beat me enough to fear him, and a man who will threaten my future children enough to keep me under his power. You love him. You must tell Heero Yuy, or I will kill you myself," with that Dorothy Catalonia left the room.  
  
Relena dialed the number for the Preventers Headquarters and informed Lady Une's secretary that she desired to speak with her. "I'm sorry she is in a meeting with Mr. Yuy right now," the secretary replied.  
  
"This is Relena Peacecraft, could you please inform Lady Une that this call is of the utmost importance," with that the girl nodded and disappeared from the vidscreen.  
  
"Relena what is wrong? My secretary said it was an emergency." Lady Une's voice came like a soothing melody through the speakers and Relena sighed in relief at seeing her face.  
  
"I don't think I need to tell you Lady, I'm sure you are aware of the message the senate delivered today," Relena watched Lady Une's sympathetic nod, "I need you to send Heero Yuy to my office immediately, and don't take no for an answer," Relena's words were swift and had a pained tone within them.  
  
Lady Une merely nodded and broke the connection. Relena waited.  
  
***  
  
Heero Yuy entered the office in the mindset of a man heading towards his execution. Ever since the incident with Marimaea Heero had attempted to keep himself as far away from the Peacecraft girl as possible. She appeared to want to thwart his every attempt in the matter. When he entered, Relena's chair was turned away from him and with a graceful motion of her hand gestured for him to sit. After a few moments of silence her chair turned and she faced him. At moments like this, when she was first exposed to his view, he was always struck by the magnitude of her beauty. He slowly regained his senses as she began to speak, "Heero… I have to tell you something…" he nodded but did not speak. Her voice was soft and strained with unshed tears as she spoke, "There was once a time when I thought, I believed, that if I could make you smile… then somehow I could make you love me." As she said this she moved from behind her desk to kneel before Heero's chair, her voice was thick with emotion now the weight of unshed tears threatening to consume her voice and leave it dead, "because that had to be harder, right? Making the perfect soldier smile? Right?"  
  
"Relena, stop," his voice was hard but possessed a tenderness she had never heard from him before.  
  
She looked up at him and held his face in her open palms, "Smile for me Heero… please, just once." His reply was to turn his face away from her, eyes downcast. "I never had any hope did I?" she looked down at his hands clenching the arms of the chair, "Heero," the words were a whisper, "Say something." The tears flowed unnoticed down her cheeks.  
  
"There is nothing to be said," she was startled by the thickness of his voice; the way it appeared to hold a sorrow only she could comprehend.  
  
"Only one thing, Heero… only one," the comment was whispered softly as she turned his face to her again and kissed him. Pain, longing, and a sorrow too deep for words flowed through the couple as their embrace tightened and Relena clung to Heero as though this were the last moment they would ever share. Heero's hands moved from the chair's arms and pulled Relena closer. He slowly coaxed her lips open and his tongue slid into her mouth, claiming hers. She moaned quietly and her fingers played with the hair at the base of his neck. Slowly, the kiss ended both wishing it could linger, holding onto the solace they found within each other. "I love you Heero, God help me I always will," saying this she stood and moved to the door, "Heero, I'm…" she lost control of her vocal cords for a moment, "This is goodbye."  
  
Shocked, the word passed over Heero's lips like some sort of painful mantra he had kept hidden from the world before he could prevent it, "Mine." The phrase was whispered and Relena was beginning to open the door when she heard him speak.  
  
Looking back sadly she spoke one last time, "I wanted to be Heero, honestly I did," and left closing the door softly behind her.  
  
May 16 A.C. 200, 12:13 PM  
  
Le Grande Café, Municipal Square  
  
The Raven sat at the small table in the quaint café and delicately drank the espresso that had been placed before her. She grimaced despising the bitter taste that filled her mouth. There were two reasons she was sitting here now, drinking a refreshment that made her want to gag and wearing a dress that made her feel restrained and uncomfortable. This café was the closest civilian establishment in proximity of the United Earth Sphere Nation Municipal Building and somewhere within herself she had always wondered what it would be like to be a "normal" girl sitting in a café and waiting for some "normal" man to find her. She closed her eyes momentarily and the image of a man appeared before her closed eyelids, a man with coal black hair and darker eyes. Before her mind could force her to deal with any more memories she hit the play button on the small device in her hand. Relena's voice came through the small earphones; "I love you Heero, God help me I always will." She rewound and listened for only a moment until she realized the sounds betrayed two people embracing. She then hit the forward button and heard a nearly indistinguishable voice speak, "Mine." After she finished perusing the conversation she set the device down and let her fingers slowly rap on the table in a gentle rhythm as she thought. "You two," she mumbled, "are either going to be extremely easy to deal with or the death of me." She scribbled into a small book beside her making proper adjustments to deal with her new findings, closed the book, paid, and walked slowly in the direction of the Winner Corporation Main Office. 


	5. Chapter 4: Trial without Jury

Chapter 4: Trial without Jury  
  
May 16 A.C. 200, 1:02 PM  
  
Winner Corporation, Main Building; Office of CEO  
  
The meeting had taken far longer than Quatre had expected, furthermore the combination of his strange visitor the previous night and the resulting lack of sleep left Quatre Raberba Winner in a very vexed mood when he entered his office. Once again he found a visitor within his quarters. She stood from the chair behind his desk and gracefully bowed before him. "You," he said slightly perturbed, "How did you get in here?"  
  
"Well, Winner I will be the first to say it wasn't easy… I did have a dress on at the time," she smiled coyly at him moving closer. "But enough about me… shall we continue our discussion, I believe I have found some patience, well, at least enough to deal with you for the moment," and she sat in one of the chairs facing the desk, crossed her legs and smiled upward at the man who had moved to stand before her.  
  
Quatre walked behind his desk and sat in the chair she had occupied earlier. He did not return her smile. "Fine, I am still at a loss as to the meaning of your rather cryptic message last night."  
  
Her smile did not waver as she replied, "I had thought that would be the case. It would appear that I have overestimated your cognitive abilities."  
  
"I would like to inform you, madam, that I am very tired of your insults," Quatre's voice was hard and unwavering in his reply, "Furthermore, if you continue to skirt this issue I will be forced to have security remove you."  
  
Her smile grew in size and joviality. "I am deathly afraid of that Winner, let me assure you."  
  
"Or perhaps I shall be forced to remove you myself."  
  
She stood, "Fine I shall be blunt, if you want me to help you, you must help me." He gave her an annoyed look, "It is a trifle really, wouldn't put you out at all, so is it a bargain?"  
  
His stare was stony when he replied, "Aren't you going to tell me what this 'favor' is first?"  
  
"Of course not, secrecy is of the utmost. If I told you and you refused," she ginned, "I would be forced to kill you." She waited until he nodded his acquiescence. "Good. You do know of a young lady by the name of Hilde Schbeiker, do you not?"  
  
***  
  
The Raven was nervous. Her prey was late. She attempted to calm her nerves. She had not been nervous for years, not since… She pushed the vision from her mind, his face and eyes returned to her mind's darker recesses. She felt the door open before she heard it. Her prey was here.  
  
"Don't move or I will kill you."  
  
She laughed, "I thought you had given up such a life Heero Yuy." Despite his command she stood and walked towards him. "Or perhaps you merely gave up on Miss Relena?" His scowl was not lost on the Raven, her grin became broader.  
  
"I will give you five seconds to leave the way you came, otherwise you will be dead."  
  
She walked up to him until only a few inches separated the two, "I suppose then you will have to kill me." Before the gun could be placed against her forehead she had disarmed him.  
  
His eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm here to help you. If you will let me."  
  
"I need no one's assistance, get out."  
  
"You will have to remove me Mr. Yuy, for I will go nowhere." She dodged his first punch. The fight continued fluidly, neither landing a hit. Slowly Heero began to recognize her form. The way she moved, the style of martial arts seemed so familiar. He had fought someone else this way before. Someone who practiced the same obscure form of combat. Someone who had very nearly killed him. His eyes grew wide…  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
She laughed, flipping away from his kick, "Wouldn't you like to know."  
  
He looked at her eyes, her face, her hair and realization filled him. An old confession of another's weakness filled his mind. This woman matched his companion's description, "You can't be… you're supposed to be dead." When he saw her reaction, the quickly faltering smile and hesitation, he realized he was correct, her form faltered, and he found an opening. He pinned her against the wall his forearm holding her neck in place. "It is you…"  
  
She blinked. Her laugh started jovial and quickly became bitter, threatening to dissolve into sobs, "I have no idea what you are talking about."  
  
"Yes, yes you do. He told me… everything, how he couldn't save you, but I never imagined…"  
  
"You can stop your inane babble," she hissed.  
  
"I'm right, aren't I," his stare was hard, and when she refused to answer he pushed against her trachea with his forearm, "Say it," he noticed she was desperately fighting to hold back tears.  
  
"Yes, I am the dead wife of Chang Wufei." She pushed her chin out proudly and met his eyes with brazen courage, "So, why don't you fulfill your promise, and turn a lie into the truth?"  
  
***  
  
Quatre felt extremely stupid. He could not comprehend how he had managed to get himself into his current situation. Groaning inwardly, he swallowed and rang the doorbell.  
  
Five seconds later he was confronted with an entirely too jovial Duo Maxwell. "Oh hey there, um, listen I'm about to leave to pick up my date. Did you need something Quatre?"  
  
Quatre swallowed again, "Actually Duo, I'm here to see Hilde." 


End file.
